CMC Hospital’s cath lab closed for 2 years

Chattogram Bureau :

A cath lab (catheterization laboratory) established in the heart department of Chittagong Medical College (CMC) Hospital has been closed for almost two years.

As a result, doctors are not able to provide services according to demand. Patients admitted with heart disease often deteriorate due to lack of timely treatment.

Doctors say that if the cath lab is opened, the suffering of the patients will be reduced and more number of patients can be served.

It is reported that there are two cath labs in the hospital’s cardiology department.

While one of them is functional, the other has been lying dormant since October 2021.

There is no solution even after repeatedly arguing about it.

As a result, complex operations like angiograms and angioplasties take longer for patients.

Usually heart disease treatment is given in several private hospitals in Chittagong.

But due to low cost of treatment in CMC hospital, patient pressure is more than other hospitals.

However, since the cath lab has been closed for several years, the patients are not getting the services.

According to hospital sources, the cath lab was officially launched on August 13, 2016. But after three years the equipment broke down.

The machine installed in the cath lab broke down again on October 20, 2020 when it was restarted after a one-day shutdown.

After being closed for about 2 months and 24 days, it was reopened to serve patients on 30 December 2020.

After seven months of operation, the lab was closed again on July 31, 2021.

After one day, the cath lab service was stopped again after two months.

Since then the lab has been idle for more than 2 years.